Dani was in a sour mood when she left the Las Vegas Sidewinders’ offices a little after four. She normally left at two, but today she’d stayed late, answering phones and hanging out with the rest of the staff. It was busy right now with the team in the playoffs, and since there was a game tonight it seemed silly to go home just to change clothes and come back.

Her older brother, Zakk, was a forward on the team, and she’d come to Las Vegas to live with him and his wife back in December. She’d only had a few classes left to get her master’s degree, and all three had been available online, so she’d been able to leave North Dakota. There were only three weeks left in the semester and though she was excited about graduating, she was floundering. She didn’t know what she was going to do with her degree, where she was going to work, or where she was going to live. Throwing the Olympics into the mix left her at the biggest crossroads of her life.

Changing into jeans and her Sidewinders jersey in the ladies’ room, she smiled despite her dark thoughts. She loved wearing Zakk’s jersey. It was as close to the big leagues as she’d ever get and since they shared both a last name and a number, she sometimes liked to pretend it was the real thing. She’d played hockey, too, and people often said she was as good as her brother. The problem, of course, was that there was no viable professional option for women, at least not in her opinion, because she refused to play for the pittance women in the National Women’s Hockey League were paid. It was embarrassing and wrong, but while her decision kept her pride intact, it didn’t keep her from missing hockey.

She headed down towards the locker rooms. Though she only worked part-time in the sales department, she was an employee as well as the sister of one of the players on the team. She stayed away most of the time, but the guys never seemed to mind if she stopped by to say hello before a game, and she made sure she left relatively quickly so she didn’t overstay her welcome. Zakk had said it was okay, so she occasionally wandered down around the time the guys started arriving at the arena.

“Hey, sis.” Zakk was already in the hallway.

“Hey.” She smiled at him.

“How was your day?”

“Pretty good. You ready for tonight?”

“Hell yeah.” He caught the soccer ball that came flying through the air as he grinned at her. “Wanna play?”

She shook her head. “No thanks, I’m going to—”

“Dani! Just the young lady I was looking for!” Sidewinders’ team owner Lonnie Finch approached her with a broad grin. Looking up at her, since she was a good six inches taller than he was, he held out his arm and she had no choice but to take it.

“Have a good game!” she called over her shoulder to her brother.

“See you tonight!” he called back.

Though part of her was a little concerned that the team owner wanted to see her, she couldn’t think of anything she’d done wrong. She only worked part-time and her job was basically answering phones. As long as she wasn’t rude to anyone—and she was fairly certain she hadn’t been—there wasn’t much to screw up.

“How have things been going, my dear?” he asked as they took the elevator up to the executive offices.

“Okay,” she responded. “I’ve only got a few more weeks left until I finish my master’s degree, so I’ve been working on my resumé.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, letting her walk into his office ahead of him.

“Okay.” She sat in one of the chairs by his desk and he sat beside her.

“You hate working in the sales department.” He met her gaze directly, though there was no censure in his eyes.

“It’s not what I’ve studied for,” she said quietly. “Sales isn’t my thing, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to work for the team.”

“Have you given up on hockey?”

She sighed. “Sir, I can’t work for that kind of money. All those women either have day jobs or wait tables to survive and it’s unfair.”

“I agree,” he nodded. “What about the Olympics?”

“I don’t know.” She looked away. This was a touchy subject for her.

“You made the team.”

“Yes.” Tryouts had been last week.

“Are you going?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What’s the hesitation?”

“I’ll have to go to Colorado in September and stay there, with the team, until the Olympics in February. I’m about to get my master’s in kinesiology and exercise science. I have student loans, bills to pay… I don’t know how much longer I can afford to keep this up.”

“Keep what up?”

“Mr. Finch, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but are you telling me I don’t have a job here anymore? I’ve pretty much decided I’m done with hockey, even though I’m planning to go to the Olympics…”

“I thought you didn’t want to go?” he pressed gently.

“Zakk wants me to. Everyone wants me to.”

“But do you want to?”

She blew out a breath. “Yeah. My heart wants me to even though my brain says I’m an idiot.”

“How old were you when you started playing hockey?”

“I don’t even know,” she admitted. “However old Zakk was. I’m three years younger, so essentially that’s when I started.”

“I’ve seen you play. You’re every bit as talented as your brother. I’m sorry there isn’t a career choice for women that equals the ones afforded to men, but the Olympics is something special, something very few people can say they’ve done.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Zakk asked you to talk to me,” she said after a moment, shaking her head.

“He may have mentioned that you’re unwilling to accept financial assistance from him for that time period and therefore considering not going. I’d like to change your mind about that. Perhaps offer you some incentive.”

Dani couldn’t help but chuckle. “My brother is nothing if not persistent.”

“He loves you.”

“And I love him. But I’m going to be twenty-three this summer and it’s time for me to take care of myself. Zakk sent me money all through college to cover things my scholarship didn’t, and then he paid my living expenses so I could stay and start my master’s. Now I live with him and he helped get me my job here on the team. At some point, I have to do something on my own. Do you understand?” She met his gaze imploringly.

This time he was the one to sigh, reaching out to pat her hand. “Believe it or not, I do. I just don’t think this is the time to spread your wings. Not yet. Eight or nine more months of hockey, Dani. What will it hurt?”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me this, then. What are your plans if you decide not to join the Olympic team after all?”

“I’ll start looking for a job as an assistant trainer.”

“For a hockey team?”

She chuckled. “Well, yes, that’s my specialty so that would be my first choice. Since the trainers here in Vegas are solid, I’ll be putting out feelers to all the other teams in the league.”

He leaned back. “There may be something opening up.”

She froze, turning in surprise. “Here?”

“If you join the Olympic team, I can hold the position until you get done.”

Her mouth opened but nothing came out at first. “Mr. Finch, that’s not how this works!”

He burst out laughing. “Of course it is, little one. You’ll have a graduate degree in exercise science shortly, which is exactly what you need for the job, and what you’ve been studying for. You also played the sport and come with excellent recommendations. If working here in that capacity is what you want, I can arrange it.” He gave her a quick, almost paternal, wink. “Come see me after the Olympics, Dani, and we’ll make this happen.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else to say, so Dani nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Finch. I appreciate it.”